The Emerald Stone
by Whiteling
Summary: Bastion Misawa was an intellective duelist and Haruna Kisaragi was an arborkinetic guardian that fell in love, but someone else felt the same way about her, and that meant trouble…deep trouble. Will their happiness be blighted by an ancient entity of the woods? Multi-crossover Retelling of the Selkie wife & The Marpessa myth.
1. It begins

**Chapter 1: It has begun**

Ever know what it means to be stolen away from home, from joy, from love?

That's what happened to one young woman when she least expected it and due to losing something of great importance to her.

Sometimes even inanimate objects can contain the seed of high adventure—of fear and even of love. How a pair of young lovers were put to a test of endurance. This is a story about love, and how love and devotion are more powerful then fear and doubt.

T'was a spring evening at garden party, a gathering for both mortals and magical folk alike intended as a gesture of forbearance. It was the perfect setting for romance, a night of soft lights and sweet music.

Here is where we meet the enamored pair.

The young man, Bastion Misawa, was a mathematical genius, believing that everything in life can be calculated arithmetically. Except he hadn't counted on genuine friendship or actual love. He'd finished duel academy and knew what he wanted – the risks, the spring, and romantic love (particularly the 'at first sight' kind) were initially simply things he found only in books and movies. What he had experienced with the Amazoness Tania years ago was just animal magnetism, a passing attraction.

But she was there whenever he visited- Haruna and Tokyo – moonlight on the glen, which bordered Burzee.

The girl, Haruna was the Earth guardian, one of the Enchanted ones, a group of eight magically gifted young women with the power over nature and the elements charged with defending the Magic dimension from the forces of Evil.

Since childhood Haruna Kisaragi was trained to be a lady. Proper training, and fortunate enough to be blessed with not only brains and beauty but a good heart as well. She was a demure and composed but she also has a playful side to her empathic nature that others find refreshing and tender.

They say that when she was a small child, she'd had wandered too close to the edge of the forest. When she returned to her concerned mother, her face was brighter and more enchanting than ever.

For the duration of two years, Haruna had fallen genuinely in love with Bastion. Pleasure and true joy comes from a deep and authentic emotional connection with another human being. And she understood that what she'd felt for her ex sweetheart, Takashi had been only puppy love.

The dance floor began to fill with expectant young women in pretty gowns either escorted by young men or by their friends. Sadly, on this day is when all the trouble started for the couple.

* * *

Now aside from the benign spirits of nature, also present at the gathering were some other foreboding entities. Although many questioned this, the ancient laws command they be included.

This just one of the few occasions in which the barrier separating the Unknown from the realm of Magic was faint enough for him to pass through. It was fairly easy to remain unseen by mortal eyes seeing as it already dusk and the shadows were plentiful.

His presence there was merely of minatory observance, if the gifted humans would pose a threat to him and his existence – other than that, the gathering itself was an apathetic matter to him. Wood-nymphs, mages and imperceptive mortals, all mixed together in a shallow, drunken stupor.

Several voices belonging to a scowling group of older maidens was heard spitting metaphorical venom.

"Just look at that street firebug flirting with all the boys and men again!"

"That goody-goody routine of the so called quiet blonde is sickening!"

"I wish they'd all stop gabbing about their new occupations and just do it! We don't have a chance with any of the other boys or men while the inseparable seven is around!"

He'd barely wondered or cared what the iniquitous snips were talking about, until he chanced to see what they were scowling at. It was a group of seven girls no older than seventeen; each one more comely then the next, however only one of them caught his eye.

This lithe maiden had red-violet hair that fell down her back, poplar skin and eyes the color of delphinium blooms. Like her friends, they were having too much fun to notice the older females glaring at them with envy.

Love can be an emotion that grows slowly much like a garden flower needs tending, or – as it was previously believed, but nowadays can be diagnosed as infatuation at best, lust and obsession at worse- can strike the heart like a lightning bolt!

Right or wrong, he knew the moment he set eyes on her the first time, he'd claim her one way or another.

And the young woman did not know she was in grave peril.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	2. Lost

Bastion and Haruna continue to court, then start living together for longer amounts of time. Their friends supported them every step of the way, naturally as with all young lovers they look forward to the day they marry.

Eventually he asks for her hand – Haruna's Uncle Professor Motosugu Inukai approves, but her parents say no for different reasons.

"She'd marry well, and I'm afraid the two of you are still children."

"You're both still too young to know your own minds, you're both just barely finished the necessary studies."

Of course they probably expected no less, but they were determined to make their relationship work.

"Do you remember the day they held a picnic here with everyone from your school and duel academy? You were sixteen that day – and I believe it was the first time I kissed you."

Haruna blushed, "Such lovely memories."

"I suppose it was in haste, yet we still have many years ahead of us to live and love."

"That's true, we still have time to build a life together. Just think, our own home someday and raise a family. One day, someday soon."

In the seasons that followed, the couple keeps seeing each other, unaware of the jealous suitor watching them from the darkest parts of the forest.

Who was this creature, this trivial thing attempting to touch his rose?

That was how he began to feel another emotion that was both foreign and recognizable: jealousy. And when jealous desire consumes the heart, all else is cast out. It was then and there that he despised the scholar for the way she looked at him…It ought to be himself instead!

He hid both himself and his true feelings the best he could in the days that followed but the gnawing resentment never left.

* * *

On one particular autumn evening, Haruna had much on her mind.

First there was the matter of past events, an act of retribution from the guardians against a group of intolerant no-majs that had gotten them in trouble.

As a result, the eight guardians' magic privileges were suspended for a week. However on they were placed on also placed on probation at the suggestion of several council members. How? Their powers were placed within an amulet, the ethereal guardians are the only one who can touch it to take it off, but it zaps whoever else tries to remove it by force. Except once the necklace is off, they're unable to use their powers until they put it back on.

The Pantheon sisters and Theo were the most vocal about this decision and how much it would put them at risk, yet the other girls knew nothing much can be done about it for the moment.

Second, a meeting was arranged between her uncle and Bastion regarding a career in both research and involving her gifted green thumb.

But then she catches a glimpse of something in the forest. Her powers might be misplaced, but that didn't remove the sight – the gift to see magical beings and realms- from her nor her fellow guardians.

Here she can clearly see the Veil that separated the Realm of Magic from another place. It was a mysterious realm, lost somewhere in the clouded panels of Earth's history and unseen by many mortal or fair folk.

And passing through the trees, the Earth guardian saw what appeared to be someone long thought to be deceased pass through the wood. The first time she thought she'd imagined it, but now she was certain.

Walking right up to the barrier, Haruna uses her contained powers to open the grove and walks right through the barrier separating the magic dimension from the Unknown.

Misplaced confidence and inexperience are what caused her not to heed the words of caution. For the hollows, darker parts of the wood didn't have just your average nocturnal animals, there were also corporeal and astonishingly tangible ghosts – many of them from different parts of history.

With every unanswered call, Haruna began to grow uneasy.

She'd hoped to catch up to them before it got dark and she didn't want to spend the night out in the wilderness while her loved ones are probably worried sick. How she wished one of the girls or her Leafeon had gone with her.

"Oh no, I must be careful. I'm supposed to be the steadfast guardian of the Earth element."

She'd almost stepped on small flowers, rare ones that grew at the end of summer. She held out her hands, which started flowing gentle green sparks that caused the foliage to grow considerably.

As she bent over the growing flowers, something slightly brushed the back of her hair…

'Oh! Someone is behind me…' Haruna thought and she felt, 'Someone kissed the back of my neck!'

Alarmed, she spun around. The forest clearing was empty… Do you ever get the feeling that you're being watched, especially in an unfamiliar setting close to dusk? That's exactly how she felt at that very moment.

Deep in the forest of the unknown - where the woods seem endless in the hushed light of the moon – it's quite easy to believe in a lurking presence!

Some hear singing like the four winds—others might catch a glimpse of a shadowed face and glowing eyes peering from beyond the trees…

Wait who turned off all the sound?

"It's an atmosphere I can't describe…both quiet and melancholy…" the young woman whispered.

Haruna paused, placing her hand on the tree. But she felt something stick to her palm, was it sap?

She pulls it away and sees this was not the case. No, it was some dark liquid and it looked like _oil_. It smelled like it too, save for the awful hint of rotting meat.

To her mild chagrin, some of it got onto her clothes and necklace as well. Haruna took a step back and got a good look at the tree itself. It was of some dark brown bark and bent in an odd shape, but the knotholes were the strangest of all. If she didn't know any better she'd say they resembled faces.

A red flag went off in her head, what was it she was supposed to remember about these trees? She had it at the tip of her tongue, but it vanished like smoke.

Right now, she best just wash off the oil and focus on getting back, surely her family will be wondering what's keeping her. Just a few steps away Haruna saw a creek. In a moment of youthful self-confidence, she temporarily removes the necklace, she removed the oil from it first then placed it on a smooth rock while she washed up.

Once she finished, Haruna reached for the amulet but didn't feel it. She turned and felt her heart sink like a stone in water. "What? Oh no! The necklace! _It's gone_!"

She spread her hands upon the ground searching fearfully. Without it she'll never leave here! But then Haruna suddenly stopped. She heard a man's voice singing close by. Then she figured something out: whoever it was had must've either snatched the necklace while she'd been distracted, or might be able to help her somehow.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She spied a small light flickering between the trees. It looked like she was getting closer.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	3. Disappearance

Almost no one noticed Haruna was missing until one of her friends tried to call on her.

"Have you seen Haruna?"

"Not since yesterday."

When she hadn't arrived for their pet project, admittedly Bastion been irked and little concerned, but when her uncle Professor Inukai told him that she never returned home that evening, against his usually cool-headed logic, a wild panic seized him!

The No-maj authorities searched all afternoon. No one has seen her not even her closest friend, Yui.

Countless hours flew by with no sign of her. By late evening, her parents were home and her mother was in tears.

"You mean no one has called or sent some kind of message for ransom or anything?"

"Not a single one."

"Perhaps it was to your company?" Sara G., the Water guardian questioned.

"No, Haruna's father would've been one of the first to know about it." Bastion replied grimly.

Just then, one of their friends had a horrible thought. "What if they don't call at all, because they don't want money…?"

Everyone present visibly paled. That was a frightening theory, even more so because it was an atrocious crime that still happens in this era.

Haruna's mother shook her head. "N-no. Don't even say it."

"I want my daughter found! And I want her found now." Haruna's father declared.

That same evening, the entire neighborhood joined together to form search parties to find her. Bastion soon joined the search party screaming her name—but there was no answer.

Who could've been the scoundrel that took her away?

_

Hours earlier, Haruna had dashed after the flickering light through the trees, intent on caching up to the individual she'd heard singing.

It felt as though the forest was closing in, as if not even the moonlight could reach her. The sort of night to unsettle anyone's nerves.

"Wait, stop! Stop!" she panted stopping to catch her breath. "I hear you but I can't see you entirely. I don't mean to impose but I'm afraid I'm lost."

Whoever it was up ahead of her had stopped. Then seemed to emerge from the darkened trees as the sound of dry leaves and weak twigs crunching underfoot could be heard.

The entire time Haruna stared, her cerulean eyes began to widen in fear and alarm.

It was a humanoid figure, the head had branch-like antlers and cloak-covered body. The eyes were glowing a bright white. The eyes and the lantern it held were only things illuminating the dark environment around both of them, as he now stood a few yards away from her.

He hadn't expected her to be wandering about his forest, but he certainly wasn't going to miss the opportunity to keep her for his own. Of course if she became too fearful, promises of safety and comfort were not beneath him.

"If you are able to hear me, then why not come closer, lost soul?" The tone of his voice; it was deep and spooky.

Oh no. Now Haruna remembered the edelwood wasn't the average tree – they were people that had turned into trees within flowed not sap but oil. Several were poor unfortunate souls that got lost in the unknown before succumbing to despair. All within the territory of a much older, darker spirit one as old the wood itself...

For a moment she could only stare and gasp out, "N-no. Don't come near me!"

"You need not be afraid, I am only attempting to assist you." The Beast soothed, taking several languid strides towards her.

"No, get away! Don't touch me!"

Haruna tried to turn and run, but he'd swiftly seized her wrists!

By this point she thrashed, wailed and just about nearly dislocated her forearms in trying to escape. She slipped out and ended up falling backwards, her head hitting something.

Then down…down…into swirling blackness!

 _ **To be continued…**_


	4. The Bonding ceremony

Down…down…into swirling blackness! It seemed like ages before the dark curtain lifted…

"Ow, the back of my head hurts…" Haruna groaned, slowly sitting up. Then glanced around, this certainly wasn't her room. There were no warm walls or art noveau frames to greet her. She was in a rather old fashioned bedroom, sitting on a quilted bed.

At first she was confused, before the events came rushing back like the tide. Oh no, she was kidnapped!

Stay calm, think. First thing's first she had to get out of here. Haruna leapt off the bed and rushed to the door, only for it to open and a complete stranger walked in.

He was taller than her, a thin but well-toned figure. Ashen brownish gold hair and faint stubble, light grey eyes and deathly pale skin.

Utterly dumbfounded, she'd tried to be polite knowing first impressions were sometimes misleading.

"I beg your pardon sir, but who are you? What am I doing here?"

So she didn't recognize him at first glance, this new form the Mad Artist had so graciously gifted him worked favorably.

"Through countless centuries, I've had so many names. Old names that only the wind and the trees can pronounce. Herne the Hunter, Scandinavian Nøkken, Der Erlkönig – the Germanic Alder King, and Celtic Cernunnos."

Odd, his voice sounded familiar.

"Er, I see…" She tried to walk around him but was unsuccessful.

"Come, let us have a long talk."

Haruna shook her head. "You don't understand, there's something I've lost and must recover if I'm ever to return home to my family. They must be terribly worried right now."

"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do. I could not find a way to lead you out of here," His words attempt to sound woeful, though it didn't match his eyes. "But perhaps this way you can find a better purpose. Wouldn't you wish to be remembered doing something far more meaningful?"

Yet there was something about his eyes that seemed terribly off. At first they flickered a sort of ring of colors until she noticed that she couldn't see her reflection in his eyes…only a dark forest. Why?

Wait a minute. No sign of her reflection in the eyes, ones of at least three different colors, and that voice… there was only individual who had those characteristics. No… it was him! The Beast!

Haruna began to back away. "Why are you doing this to me? Why have you brought me here if you don't plan on using me to preserve your immortal existence?"

"Why else?" He echoed then took her hand in a languid but strong grip. "I've intended to have you, no matter what had to be done."

She shivered under his touch. "I never imagined you had romantic notions concerning me."

"I have never wanted anything so much before, and quite certain I never will again. I had to make you mine."

"No…No! It's Bastion I love!" She shook her head.

Rejection; A concept he does not take well. Nevertheless, she will learn reciprocate his emotions. He'll keep her close until she forgets the urchin.

"No maiden knows her own mind at your youthful age. However in time, old memories shall fade and they will be replaced with new ones."

By then the young woman had backed up against the wall, holding a poker. "I'm going to scream!"

Her declaration didn't faze him in the least! She was truly frightened at that very moment!

"You're welcome to try and you shall, but no one will heed you." He replied mordantly with a cold smirk.

* * *

For days, the police asked questions, but no one has seen or heard anything. But Haruna's friends and family refused to give up. Especially Bastion, he feels partially responsible. If only he'd offered to accompany her that night, if only they hadn't arranged that small meeting in the first place…

"That poor boy's simply lost ever since Haruna disappeared."

Bastion's writing: How dark, how cruel seems to me…to us now. A world that once seemed bright and full of so opportunities and dreams…

That was when the nightmares began. "No—stop! Don't take her from me!"

He writhed and twisted as the dream tore at his heartstrings and he wakes drenched in sweat.

What if she becomes one of the few missing that die alone, scared and in pain?

"No! Try not to think that!" He'd find her some way or another, otherwise he might never live with himself.

* * *

It was a lovely place but as far as Haruna was concerned it was a prison. And if the Beast of the unknown was going to keep her from everything she loved, she would hate him forever.

But as she woke up after a rest one day close to dusk, she noticed she wasn't in the same clothes she'd put on that day. Instead she was garbed in a Celtic white dress with tailored hanging sleeves, the inside of them and the ribbon holding it a forest green. "Where'd this come from?!"

Furthermore, whoever had must've been the one to have changed her while she unconscious… she shivered, hugging her knees at the thought.

Just then she heard the Beast singing out in the forest.

Alright, this has gone far enough. The young Earth guardian decided she was going to give him a good talking to and demand to know what he's done with the amulet.

There she found him in the middle of a forest clearing, he was once more in that human shape that almost deceived her.

"I thought that was you." Haruna said coolly.

The Beast turned his gaze on her. "That is to be expected, my rose. My voice calls, it lures anyone willing to listen."

She was even more beautiful than she seemed from afar. Soon she'll be his – and spend the long years of eternity together.

Except Haruna then saw that he wasn't entirely alone, there were at least two others present. The first was a druid in his deep earth brown robes, he looked rather forlorn at the circumstances while the second was a woman. She was dressed in a deep purple gown with a dark feathery cloak. From her Haruna could sense sheer wickedness and calculation.

"So here is the blushing bride, and right on time for the Autumnal Equinox." The woman smiled coldly.

The Earth guardian blanched, it WAS September 21. He'd been planning this from the start. She felt like a lamb let to slaughter.

"Now, now, now, nothing worse than a bride crying on her wedding day," The woman chuckled, stroking her full lips with her forefinger that was encased in a silver, talon like sheath. "Or better, in this case. But this is purely a business transaction, dear. Nothing personal against you, just the forces of evil trying to gain a foot over the light side."

"Who are you?" Haruna asked in disbelief.

"I am the she who must be obeyed, the maiden of malice, queen of darkness, Lady Despair." The woman said twirling around, stretching out her arm to hold out her cloak in a fancy curtsy. "And our mutual acquaintance has asked ME to oversee and BLESS this most, auspicious occasion."

The druid looked horrified and argued in his native tongue glaring daggers at the Beast. " _Feicfidh mé a dhéanamh aon rud den sórt! Is léir nach bhfuil an bhean óg ar mian chun pósadh tú, agus ní bheidh mé bhfeidhm aici._ "

Just to be precise the druid was saying: 'I'll do no such thing! This poor girl doesn't wish to marry you and I will not force her.'

"My dear Druid, have you ever heard of the Kingdom of D'or?" Lady Despair asked casually.

The Druid looked at her in confusion.

"No, I suppose not...it has been a thousand years after all. It's located where the Lake Of Tears is now," Lady Despair said. "The one with the monster in it, surrounded by dead trees and barren wasteland?"

Her face broke into a smile as the Druid's face warped into horrified realization.

"Yes...it was once such a glittering kingdom," Lady Despair waved her hand in the air bored. "Full of kind people, gold buildings, fountains and other wonders."

"And one day, purely on a whim, I cursed the entire kingdom into the Lake of Tears. Its inhabitants became worms, slugs, fish and other blind, deaf and mute creatures. Their leader into the monster soldeen and his Queen into a rock in the center of the lake, shaped like a bowing, crying figure."

She reaches out her hand, letting her curved, black, sharp talons extend as they spark with black lightning.

"Now, if I can do THAT to a kingdom on a mere whim..." She leans forward, her eyes glowing red and voice becoming distorted. "Imagine what I can do to your clan, if you frustrate me with your defiance!?"

Looking terribly conflicted, the druid looked to Haruna, who whispered miserably: "I'm so sorry, I know you have no choice."

Solemnly, the Druid hung his head, which was all the confirmation Lady Despair needed.

"We are gathered here today to marry 'Good to Evil.'" Lady Despair declared. "As long as good and evil, exist side by side, we maintain a reasonable balance." She proudly stated, making weighing gestures with her hands, representing the balance she spoke of. "And there will ALWAYS be a need for us and our services."

Next she gave a pointed look to the druid to proceed with the ceremony. He began saying the following words in his native tongue:

" _Let each person gathered here now call into this sacred rite, in this consecrated place, the powers that we know to be sources of love and inspiration._ "

With a heavy heart he held up selected cord for the hand-fasting – the colors were red for passion, gold for unit/longevity and green for fertility.

The Beast took Haruna's hand in his, so that the Druid began binding their hands together.

" _As your essence runs together, flowing and mixing, joining and bonding one with the other, so too do your life forces, becoming as one._ "

Once the cord was tightened, something began to happen. To Haruna's shock, she could what looked to be some inky tendrils – and yet they looked more like living lifelike tattoos- slithering from the rope right to wrap around her wrist. On the hand of the Beasts they looked more like shimmering green vines forming on his wrist.

Instead of rings the Bonding ceremony both parties would possess visible yet distinctive markings as proof of said marital binding.

" _All things in nature are circular. Night becomes day, day leads into night which again gives way to day. This sacred Earth is our home. It offers us the power of life, nourishing us, body and soul, holding us from birth until we let go once more into the worlds of spirit. Each rock and stone, each pebble and gem contains within it the stories of all time._ "

As the final intoned words for the hand-fasting ceremony were spoken, she was continually filled with dread. Haruna's fear wasn't exactly hard to understand – after all how many maidens were kidnapped and forced into marriage with a callous monster?

" _The rite of Marriage is complete. Let it be sealed with a kiss._ " The Druid finished gloomily.

In that same moment, the Beast held Haruna close and forced his now human mouth upon hers. It was long and passionate, to the point where she was desperately gasping for much needed air when it was done.

That will be all, now you may leave. Lady Despair, said to the druid, sending him away. She then turned to the Beast. "Be Careful, Dear Beast. Because the love you hold for her, will blind you when she steals your heart," Lady Despair disappears as a cyclone of red mist envelopes her body. "And your soul..."

Perhaps in the ancient days of history it was an old custom for a woman to marry a complete stranger

But this is a horrible mistake. This wasn't for her. They had the wrong girl. There was nowhere to run or hide from her fate. She tried. It was out of her hands. Whatever unwritten law of magickery that controlled her future had erased all chance of ever regaining her happiness. Invisible vines strangled and choked her heart.

Once it sank in what would happen next, she began struggling and sobbing.

Strong arms wrapped around Haruna, held her in place before leading her away. "You need not fear me. I don't wish to harm you, but I shall not be denied."

She didn't want to be anywhere near him, but some strange compelling force stronger than she kept her frozen in her steps. The next thing she knew, she was gazing into those glowing pink, yellow and blue eyes, being drawn deeper into the depths…becoming lost in them…so lost…

 ** _To be continued…_**


	5. Discovery

Several weeks have gone by since Haruna's disappearance and it was taking it's toll on her loved ones.

"Don't you think you should try to get your mind off Haruna- when brooding about her means getting yourself worked up into a state like this? You might have to accept that you may never find her. For her family's sake and your own, forget her."

"That's inconceivable."

"You'd be much kinder to yourself to give up hope." One authority figure had insensitively stated.

"From a detached point of view it's easy to say isn't it? But no, I can't and will not forget Haruna."

The guilt, stress and grief of the past few days send the young man off into an emotional fit to the point where he runs out of the office. In his miserable flight, he didn't hear his fellow duelists calling out to him.

 _ **"Bastion. Bastion, over here!"**_ soft voices cried from the garden close to Kibou Manor.

"Haruna, I know you're here." the young man groaned, gripping the dirt in his bare hands.

Suddenly out from the ground, glowing red roses sprouted and began wrapping themselves around his arms and ankles.

Naturally, he's startled. First his girlfriend reveals her big secret to him, and in his bereavement now he's talking to roses with minds of their own.

 _ **"Yes, we can help you. We know where she went."**_

Bastion is entangled in the rose's vines, sobbing in agonized despair. "Please...please tell me...is Haruna...is she...dead?"

 _ **"No! We have been in the Underworld with Lady Persephone, where the dead souls dwell. And Earth Guardian Haruna is not with them."**_ The flowers spoke, their petals glowing, and voices an otherworldly echo.

"Then where is she!?" Bastion asked hysterical – clearly close to the breaking point.

 _ **"Gone. She wandered into the great beyond, beyond where the Earth itself can go, and into a dark, cold land where flowers never grow."**_ The roses said sadly. _**"But take heart, search for her in the woods of the Beyond, and one who must've seen her might know where to find her."**_

"But where is this Great beyond?! How will I find her?" He cried.

 _ **"You will know. To find it you will need the help of friends and allies to lead you there. The Guardians will be more than willing. Seek them."**_ And with that they vanished back into the ground.

Bastion was left trying to catch his breath and getting his bearings. His vanished magical girlfriend revealed her secret and what she knew to him – and that was almost a year ago but it's still fresh in his mind. Now this confirms she HAD been kidnapped, but he doesn't know by who.

So that only left him to talk to the guardians and ask for their help. This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Kibou Manor home to three of the ethereal guardians, the Pantheon sisters. This same afternoon the guardians were in their headquarters, an enormous oak tree within a small glen right behind the mansion. They were planning to form their own search parties in search of Haruna – except this time they'll resort to magical means.

"You know, shouldn't we be telling Bastion about our plan?" Dana, the youngest guardian asked, "After all he IS Haruna's romantic partner."

"Well I'm sorry, he and the other boys had to go see a man about that new dueling module, for all we know they could be gone for days." Yui, the star guardian, explained.

"But the roses just told me she's in the woods of the great beyond – wherever that is!"

They all suddenly stopped when they heard Bastion's voice shouting followed by those belonging to at least two staff members from Duel academy.

"We'll find you a doctor."

"Better yet we'll get you a professional grief therapist!"

"You must trust me!" Bastion had cried out desperately.

"We do trust you, it's the talking roses that worries us!"

The next thing they knew, the young man himself came sliding down the entrance tunnel and landing on the soft cushioned floor made for landing, most likely so he could escape the greatly worried grownups pursuing him. He was very much agitated – except the girls doubted it because of scientific enlightenment.

He was rambling something about the beyond and the roses telling him that's where Haruna is.

"Alright first off, you've got to calm down and let the police handle this." Zaira, the Thunder guardian, told him.

"Or possibly even the Ministry of magic." Sara G., the water guardian, chimed in with a shrug.

Bastion tried taking deep breaths to calm down, "I don't trust the formal authorities here anymore, which means I'm to rely on the magical world to find her, and somehow I've only one got one lead, which means I have to find her!"

"You? Don't you mean us?" Beth asked indignantly.

"Haruna's our friend too!" Yui chimed, putting her hands on her hips.

"We know better than anyone else that if too much time passes, there's a morbidly awful chance that she'll develop Stockholm syndrome or be groomed into submission to her kidnapper." Kylie stated worriedly.

Zaira added, "Worse yet, she'll involuntarily forget about everything from her life by coming to identify with and even caring for her captor, usually as an unconscious act of self-preservation."

A tense silence followed.

"The cold scary facts are not helping our morale." Theo, the fire guardian, said flatly.

"Just pointing things out from an analytical point of view." Zaira replied.

"All the more reason we cannot give up," Bastion insisted, "I refuse to allow Haruna to become just another statistic in the missing files where everyone forgets her despite finding no body."

Beth gave him a confident smile. "Whoever said we were giving up?"

* * *

First things first, they would need to spread the word at least try understand the lead Bastion they'd gotten. They reached Burzee, although the barrier didn't keep him out, it seemed the other magical creatures weren't exactly keen on talking to him due to him being a mortal. And frankly it wasn't helping his morale.

"While they're doing their silly little impressions...I am possibly miles from home with an entire group with knowledge I know next to almost nothing about!"

"Believe me, I know how frustrating that could be." grumbled Zaira.

"Meanwhile, Haruna is lost out there somewhere. And I have a right to know! Her family, friends and I deserve answers! But it doesn't matter because it would seem no other no-maj nor creature in this entire planet is going to help me find her and bring her home."

"Uh, we're helping you remember?" Dana reminded him. "All it takes is just the right approach to speak with those that live here in Burzee. You know they're reasonably wary of mortals."

The other girls nodded reassuringly.

"Wait right here for a moment." Yui then walks up to the groups of Knooks. "Hey guys!"

"What's that, is he bothering you?"

"No, no. He's a good guy." Sara G. deterred them.

Yui nods, "Go easy on him. He's lost his sweetheart –who's my best friend- we're trying to help find her.

"It's Haruna the Earth guardian, surely you've already heard by now that she's been kidnapped. Some roses confirmed it, as well as the fact that whoever took her wasn't human." Kylie added.

Theo asked, "Any of you heard of the great beyond?"

"Supposedly beyond where the Earth can go and… where flowers never grow?" added Dana with a confused expression.

The forestal creatures they talked to looked thoughtful.

"That sounds a mite familiar," one of the Knooks remarked.

"Where no flowers grow? Sounds bleak. Perhaps one of the Rylls could tell."

"The best we can do is split up all over let the word spread."

The guardians were delighted, if Haruna's kidnapper wasn't a human then surely the denizens of the Magical Dimension would know.

But then they're stopped.

"Oh not so fast! Almost forgot, The Beast of the Unknown was seen passing through just a few days ago. Best be on your guard and stick to the paths at night. "

The guardians blanched, while Bastion looked perplexed. Beast? He raised a skeptic eyebrow. Then he looked around behind him, his eyes scanning the dark forest. "What Beast? What is it?"

"This is not an animal, but a dark creature of the forest." Zaira elaborated.

The magical creatures all started talking and adding their piece.

"Most likely in league with all them dark forces he is."

"Some say he is over seven feet tall...with the strength of a bear."

"On nights like this...he wanders alone ...piercing the silence of the forest with his mournful melody."

"Now, some say he is thirsty for blood."

"Others say he is calling for the mate that he secretly longs for...but will never find."

"But he stalks by night—sings like the four winds, he is the death of hope."

And as the sun was slowly starting to set, an eerie song was sung describing a fearsome creature that lurked out int eh darkness seeking lost souls feeding them lies then turning them into trees of oil to prolong his unnatural existence.

Bastion shook his head briefly. "Alright. Firstly, whoever heard of trees made of oil? Furthermore, how do we even know such a creature is out there, if his victims were never seen or heard from again?"

"Better start believing in legends boy, you're already living one just by talking to us and them." One of the Knooks replied.

"And you happen to have romantic inclinations with a magical guardian." Theo playfully elbowed him.

"That's another story entirely." the young man mumbled.

"Better yet, why not ask the Fae youngling over by Hohaho. She'd left her forest for a spell and been around maybe she'll tell you."

"Yes, thank you." Bastion nods then bows once before he and the girls started leaving with a few farewell waves.

"Don't mention it! Just lighten up, sonny!"

The Guardians approached the valley carefully, they might not be in the forest of Kells, but the sylph they intended to ask was as wild and unpredictable as the fairies of ancient times.

"Hear us, Aisling, last of the Tuatha De Danann. Make your will known, we appeal to you, what has become of our missing friend?"

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a white wolf emerged from the shrubbery however it possessed green eyes – no wolf possessed eyes of that color. The group blinked just once and in its place they saw a pale, petite girl in a short grey robe with matching boots. Her shining white hair fell down her back, and her eyes were the exact same shade of green as the wolf they'd seen.

"You know the big words aren't all necessary," she said sternly with folded arms. "Why should I help you in find a lost person?"

"Please we mean no harm." Kylie said earnestly. "But we need you to tell us how to find our friend Haruna, her family and her boyfriend here are terribly worried."

"Furthermore she's not, I've been told she'd been kidnapped." Bastion interjected, "She's a young woman about yay high," He motions to a specific height,"Fair skinned, blue eyes…"

The pale fae stopped short at the description, feeling as though a bucket of icy water had splashed on her. Only one person fit that description and said girl wasn't a maiden anymore.

"Haruna? Is that her name?" she asked, turning to them looking rather dismayed.

"Yes."

"Then I'm afraid she's been spirited away as you said."

"We know that now." Beth spoke up, "But the thing we still don't know exactly WHERE and by WHO. Please, you must tell us."

Aisling sighed then replied somberly, "She wandered right into his crafty, crooked hands, then he stole her away to keep for his own, mostly likely into the great beyond called the Unknown. They call him the Voice of the night, Beast of Eternal darkness."

The guardians and the young man listened intently to their words then became horror-struck. Now they knew who took Haruna and to where, but it didn't make them feel any better…

 ** _To be continued…_**


	6. The quest begins

The inevitable wedding night had been something she'd hoped to evade but alas to no avail. She and Bastion had never gone further than kisses and gentle embraces.

"Think of me… and only of me." Haruna's new husband had whispered as he took her into his arms.

"I'll never be yours, never." She'd whimpered.

It wasn't enough, her tears and terrified disposition didn't stop him…when it was over, he held her close to his torso. She turned her gaze from him to hide the pain and defiance that didn't escape his notice.

The following morning, after he'd left for the day, the poor girl swept out into the woods. Unable to find her old clothes, she wore soft green kirtle over a white cotton smock. The sun had long since lost its warmth and the skies seem perpetually grey to her since the day… since the day she was taken. With the passing days, she had decent clothing and plenty food but that was it.

Haruna fell to the ground, sobbing. No matter where she went, she always would be returned to the area outside the cottage she presently resided in by the poor girl had tried desperately to get away, but no matter how far she got, she always returned to the pasture.

"Oh, I'm so miserable!" She covered her eyes, weeping till it was like two streams falling from her eyes, and she didn't hear the whisper of a skirt as someone approached her.

"My, my, such a sad, pretty thing, all alone in these woods."

Haruna gasped, and looked up at the strangest looking old woman she'd ever seen. Her eyes were gigantic and her teeth completely black and few in number. She was of a large size, taller than Haruna, and dressed in old time pilgrim woman's garb, with the bonnet on top and a black cloak wrapped around her body, the bottom stained with mud. It was odd but she swore she'd seen her before.

"But do you not know what wanders in these woods, singing his wretched song?" The woman asked softly. "Nay, do not stay to learn, rather run on back to your home and safe in bed, child."

Haruna sobbed harder, and the old woman looked stricken. She rubbed at Haruna's back, attempting to calm her down.

"You must not give into grief, Child. Or he will claim your soul!" The woman said frantically.

"I already know who he is..." Haruna said through her tears. The younger woman held herself with a shudder, feeling soiled, degraded by his touch. "And he already possesses my body, the wretched monster has forced me into a binding ritual. And now, I am as bad as his wife, and more miserable then a wretched slave."

Haruna was inconsolable for several minutes, but the old woman cooed like a bird it sounded, and wrapped her into a tight, warm hug.

"Shhh~" The woman kept saying. "Calm yourself, dry your tears."

And Haruna eventually got a grip on herself, accepting a handkerchief from the woman to wipe her eyes and blow her nose.

"Poor, sweet little blossom." The woman said. "Have no fear, you are not alone. Auntie Whispers is here now." The old woman, Auntie Whispers said.

"Au-auntie Whispers?" Haruna said. The name seemed to ring a bell.

"Aye. I am she. A humble old woman, with naught but two sticks to rub together." Auntie Whispers grins, and despite the blackened teeth Haruna felt her heart grow light. "But with those two sticks, I could conjure such wonders, and frighten away spirits, demons and other foul, disgusting beasties."

"A...are you a witch, Ma'am?" Haruna asked warily.

"I am, my sweet child. But have no fear of me. I use my powers for the betterment of mankind," Auntie Whispers said. "I aid those lost little younglings, the hatchlings who fall out of the nest and tend to them. Protecting them from the wicked vipers that would gobble them up."

Haruna laughed as Auntie Whispers exaggerated growl at 'gobble' made her feel better.

"I only wish you'd been there to aid me when that wolf pounced on me." Haruna said sadly.

"Alas...my powers are strong, but I am no match for that disgusting wretch." Auntie Whispers snarled. "Many have fallen victim to him and his misleading ways. My own sister, Adelaide of the Pasture, serves the foul monster in leading others astray."

Haruna patted the woman's large hand.

"I am sorry, it seems we are both helpless in this case..." Haruna said. And explained all that happened, as well as the fact that though the Beast allowed her to roam during the day, she was pulled back to at sunset.

Auntie Whispers pats and strokes Haruna's cheek warmly.

"Nay, all is not lost. I may not have the power to set you free, but I can offer you the company, warmth and light during your time free from his grasp. And that will keep you from losing hope." Auntie Whispers frowned fretfully.

Haruna frowned in confusion as Auntie Whispers then pulled a green cloak from the folds of her own cloak.

"It might take all my magic, but here is a special cloak for you. So long as you wear it. The beast will not be able to..." The larger woman grimaced at the following implication. "Touch...you..."

Haruna graciously accepted it. "Oh thank you, Auntie Whispers."

"But...the cloak will not help you leave this place, and the spell will still bring you back to his lair." Auntie Whispers states. "But to ensure you do not become lost at night..." She gave Haruna a small rectangular hand mirror to hold in her hands. "This mirror, allows you to see EVERYTHING happening in the woods, here and Beyond the Beyond. Who knows," Auntie Whispers said with a shrug. "Maybe. You will see your beloved, and seeing his face as he searches for you, will liven up your spirit even more."

"Oh, Auntie Whispers. You don't know what this means..." Haruna nods weeping with joy.

"Always so wet, little duckling. I only wish I could do more," Auntie Whispers said using hanky to dab at Haruna's eyes. "But you shall be good company for me and my precious Lorna during the day, at the very least."

Perhaps one day she'll explain to the young woman she looked familiar, but for now the benign witch could only offer moral support.

* * *

The guardians and Bastion had blanched with the revelation.

"Rumor has it he'd seen your lady love during one of the forest gatherings and fell madly in love with her. Well I say it's more passionate obsession than anything." Aisling told Bastion softly.

"Thank you for telling us, you've been more than kind." Kylie said to her.

She and the others turn to leave, Aisling calls out hoping for their success in bringing Haruna back. While doing so, the remaining seven guardians suddenly pause – in their mind's eye, like a movie played fast-forward, memories played. That one fateful Halloween, the accident and their adventure in the Unknown.

"Now I remember!"

"Me too!"

"This still doesn't tell us how we can rescue her, last time we were in some kind of coma or something," Theo said confusedly, "But Haruna's still alive."

"It looks like we might need help from the Higher ups…" Beth speculates, before noticing Bastion clenching his fists and walking off. "Hey, where you going?"

"Where else? I'm going to find this place somehow and get her out of there."

"What do you mean? You can't just walk out there half-blind." Sara G. protests.

"Bastion, please, don't go crazy on us now!" Beth cried.

"Do you even have any idea what the Unknown is?" Zaira demanded, "It's an urban country purgatory where for about at least 47% of Humanity's historical denizens end up without so much as a clue that they're dead or in denial."

"Then there's the Beast himself. This guy isn't like a dueling opponent you can use complicated equations on, and he's not the kind that attacks physically head on. No, no." Theo elaborates dourly, "He spouts out honeyed venom, playing on guilt and sorrow leading his victims to despair without them even knowing. By making you trust his words, he wins."

"So you're saying we should just give up?" Dana questions.

"Spending days in the woods, facing wild animals. Risking death from exposure, being stalked by an eldritch abomination... sounds like old times." Theo estimated.

"We said we weren't giving up, and we meant it." Yui chimed in.

* * *

Onwards they continued, with new determination knowing they would need help from the Fair folk if they're to find their destination.

Who or what was this mysterious figure that walked by night? Was there any truth to the story they told of a creature that stalks wandering travelers in that different sort of Limbo?

Days later, it nighttime and the group had stopped to rest. Earlier they'd all agreed their best chance was to reach Carolinus, as the green wizard of nature's realm, he was Haruna and Theo's teacher.

"Are you looking for your love, Young man?"

The voice was low, and dusky, and it instantly put them on edge. Bastion and the girls looked about and were startled to look up and see a woman sitting on a branch of an oak tree. The woman had purple hair, strange golden eyes, wore a purple leotard and had a long black cloak flowing out behind herself. Which was held around her neck by a silver moon pendant.

"Huh, who are you?" Bastion asked cautiously.

"You wander around in the middle of me, and you ask who I am?" The woman said with a dry chuckle.

"The middle of...what are you saying? It's the woods at night we're wandering through," Sara G. said to her. "Whoever you are..."

"You just said it." The woman said with a smirk. "I am the Night, and you are all wandering through me. So to speak."

They blinked up at her in shock.

"The...Night. You're 'The Night?'" Zaira asked flabbergasted.

"Oh, truly I am." She laughed as she rested her hands behind her head, laying on the branch. "The mother of Death and Sleep, and so many other atrocities and blessings."

"But I know why you are all wandering aimlessly," The Night said sad tone. "My voice has stolen away someone dear to you."

"Your voice...The Beast of the Unknown?" Bastion asked angrily.

"Honestly, that Beast. Calling himself 'the Voice of the Night.' BAH! He's no voice of my own, I can tell you that." The Night said with a sharp, angry frown.

"You know then...about the children, Haruna, all the others?" Beth asked.

The Night suddenly was gone, and in front of the group with an enraged expression.

"He was to be a guiding voice, he was meant to guide lost souls, either back to the light, or to the world beyond!" She screeched with her voice becoming warped. "I KNOW WHAT HE DID, I'VE SEEN WHAT HE'S DONE! HE DEFILED THE TITLE, AND BETRAYED ME!" She steps back as the eight travelers struggle to stay on their feet after that alarming display.

"Good to know we have the support of another Immortal…" Dana mumbled as she sat up.

"Can you help us then? I need to find her, I need to save Haruna!" Bastion pleaded.

"Hey – we're in on this too, remember?" Yui interjected with an indignant frown

"I shall help you, if only to avenge the wrong that disgusting wretch did to me." The Night said more calmly. She gestured up to the sky, and where there was once the Moon was now only one bright, shining star.

"Follow this star, you will be able to see it, during the daylight hours, or my hours. And it will guide you close to where you're headed." The Night said.

Bastion looked up at that star, and hope filled his heart again. He took the Night's hand in his, and kissed the back of it gratefully.

"I thank you, Mother Night." Bastion sighed in joy.

The girls all smiled, nodded and voice their assent.

"I accept. But if you succeed, and you and the girl are living happily ever after. Do me but one favor," The Night said. "If you ever have children, I would enjoy it immensely if your wife sang them lullabies when I come out."

She smiled softly at Bastion.

"There is no greater, more beautiful sound in the world then a loving mother singing to her child."

Bastion looked at her in surprise, but smiled and nodded at her graciously. "I will make sure of it, Mother Night. And we will tell our children never to fear you."

The Night smiled gleefully, and her cloak suddenly came to life, and wrapped around The Night's body until she disappeared.

"Don't worry, Haruna we're on our way." Yui whispered as they walked on.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	7. Destination set

With the mirror she'd received from Auntie Whispers, Haruna used it to check up on her loved ones. First her family: her parents were quite distressed that it was noticeable in their work. Her old schoolmates and fellow correctors were deeply concerned. She couldn't forget the fervent longing to return home, but without the amulet containing her other powers, it was impossible.

In the meantime, Haruna made the best of what she could during the day. In the early morning after breakfast, she'd taken to wandering the Unknown, in so doing the memories flooded back. She remembered her previous adventure here with the girls and the two half-brothers. At once, she'd gone to see the friends they'd made in this realm.

First she snuck aboard the frogland ferry then hopped off before they'd see that she didn't pay the fare. En route, she'd reached a simple wooden house, which to her astonishment, belonged to the Woodsman and his daughter. Quickly she explained why she was here and why she was unable to return home. Haruna had wished them well before departing to find the other denizens she, the girls and brothers had met before.

The next day, she'd found the old Grist mill and to her pleasant surprise, it was home to Beatrice and her family.

Even so to their shock, at sundown Haruna was returned to the outside of what she now recalled is the late Adelaide's house – the thought still made her skin crawl. Her current situation also meant if there were any others that become lost in the forest, she won't be able to help them with this curse on her. It had to have been that awful woman's doing – Lady Despair, the Earth guardian speculated.

The Beast might not be able to conjugate with her so long as she wore the cloak, yet it did not stop him from touching her in other less intimate ways. Such as taking her hands in his, caressing her face or hair, and literally holding her in his arms.

Regarding her freedom, she'd begged and tried to reason with him, to no avail…

How could she feel his arms around her and not respond to his impassioned overtures? "You've nothing but tenderness and clemency in your soul, yet you are cold only to me."

"Is there nothing I can do to make you understand?" she pleads.

There was pain. However it wasn't physical, it was a pain in her heart. Her very soul!

"No. Perhaps I never shall."

"You are the winter, and I am the flower. You cannot make me bloom," Haruna sobs. "All you can do is wither and kill me with your icy grasp."

She's growing paler and more listless everyday…he had to do something to get her mind off her sorrow.

"You're reaching just not far enough! I'll be ready when you tell me you'll forget him, that you'll only be mine."

 _No one has forgotten me,_ she thought firmly. _I walked right into the Unknown all by myself using my powers because I thought I wouldn't be more than a minute. Ancient lore states this place is a form of limbo, a realm few have seen. He's only trying to confuse me._

* * *

As for the group, they traveled on then…

"If ever your lost in me, call out my name and I will appear to assist you." Nyx said.

The others smiled, nodding in gratitude. The Night laughed wildly, as her cloak suddenly shot out, growing the size of a circus tent and covering the guardians and Bastion.

"Whoah!"

"Ahh!"

"What is she doing!?"

"Wait!"

"Ahahahahahaha! It's been fun, I hope we meet again!" Nyx laughed in glee, her cloak pulling back to her side. She crossed her arms, and slowly disappeared along with the others.

When they all opened their eyes, the sun was rising and they were under a cherry blossom tree on a hill. And just a path's walk from there was a crystal lighthouse. It seemed the Night had deposited them close to the dwelling of one that will help them pass the Veil into the Unknown – they need only ask.

* * *

Days passed, the whole scenario, the having to put up with him every night, it was weighing hard on Haruna's mind and soul.

And it showed whenever she spoke to her friends in the Unknown. On this day they were all gathered at Quincy Endicott and his wife Marguerite's manor.

"What's wrong with you? You're not giving up are you?"

Haruna shook her head sadly, "No, never. But without my powers I'm trapped."

"Alas, if only there was some way to know where that amulet is." Lorna said sadly as she poured them some tea.

"Except the Unknown is already quite extensive. Only the Great Emperor over the sea knows where." Haruna sighed, turning her teacup in her hands.

Beatrice pondered the words momentarily then grinned, "And with people and other things you've previously met."

Anna, the woodsman's daughter, caught on and addressed Haruna, "And surely with enough hands and eyes to help you search?"

"That w-" Haruna paused then brightened at they were getting at. "Yes. If we all pitch in, split up, we might find the amulet or find out where he took it. Everything will be alright."

So she gathered them round and told her plan. Every day a specific party would go out into the forest and other areas in search of the amulet by turns while keeping to their daily activities; Mrs. Brown's students and Beatrice's family agreed to look during the day, with the younger ones always in the company of an older sibling or their parent. If they could reach out and convince those in Pottsfield to help out, even better. Those that search by night is another story, for only a small number agreed.

"But what of the Beast…?"

"Leave him to me. I…" Haruna replied soberly before swallowing uncomfortably, "Know how to keep him while you venture out in search. After all, I'm forced to return close to him at every sundown."

They all looked at her with sympathetic expressions. A genteel young woman like her didn't deserve to be forced into a union with such a horrid monster.

"Don't take any unnecessary risks. Even you cannot keep diverting him from his hunts nor his revenge forever." The Woodsman warned her.

Haruna was determined. "If it means that I'll soon be returned to my loved ones, it will be worth the sacrifice."

* * *

As it turns out the crystal lighthouse belonged to a powerful sorceress called Vanessa, the Dark Spectre Queen of the Ocean. The group had been hoping to reach Carolinus but this was the next best thing.

Better yet, she already knew why they were here.

"You seek the Lost maiden, She of the mauve hair, Bride of the forest. Heart of the Beast." The Dark Spectre Queen spoke.

"You mean Haruna?" Theo asked.

"Since when did she have those fancy titles?" Yui asked in confusion. "I mean, she's been missing 5 weeks..."

"Five Weeks?" The Dark Spectre Queen laughed sadly. "Poor little ones. You believe she's only been gone five weeks?"

Bastion look upset. "I know how long she's been gone, I've been counting the hours, the days with her gone!"

The Dark Spectre Queen raised a scaly hand at him, sighing as she rubbed her forehead with the other. "You mortals, understand so little. In the Unknown, time has no meaning, it passes, slips, runs past at random." Vanessa points a sharp finger at the Guardians and Bastion. "What seemed to you a day, even a week or a month IS A YEAR INSIDE THOSE WOODS!" The Dark Spectre Queen shouts, her voice echoing and rumbling with power.

"No...so long, she's been there for so long." Bastion gasped in shock.

"Look, we need to get to her soon as we can before another year passes there!" Beth beseeches. "What will it take to get us to the Unknown?"

Vanessa stroked her chin with her scaly hand, and held out the other so an oval shaped bottle with a dark red liquid inside of it came over to rest in the palm of her hand. "30 years of your life."

"What!?" The girls and bastion shout in shock.

"Not from each of you, I just demand five years from each one of you to add up to thirty." The Dark Spectre Queen said. "This is precious stuff, and I don't part with it easily."

"Why do you want five years of our lives?" Kylie asked. "Aren't you immortal?"

The Dark Spectre Queen sighed.

"I am indestructible and live so long, due to the fact I am corrupted with dark magic which is balanced out by light magic, add in my divine lineage being a daughter of Poseidon, multiple with the favors I'm owed by the Three Brothers and the fact I've hidden my heart outside of my body." She rubs the potion in front of her chest with a tense expression. "No...I am not. I am incredibly long lived, but only via taking a year, or ten from people for my services." Vanessa said. "Never more then what's beyond their expected life expectancy."

"Sooooo your saying, we're all only gonna live 95 years, so you're taking the five unused ones off?" Theo asked.

"Maybe you'll live super longer, it's hard to tell exactly." The Dark Spectre sighed. "If my heart ever got destroyed, or returned to my body I'd like to live longer than a day after it happens. Thus the years."

There was a silent pause as they considered their choices.

"We'll do it." Bastion said.

"Wha..." Beth spoke up.

"If it's just five years, what does it matter if we don't save Haruna?" Bastion said urgently.

The girls sighed, but nodded in agreement.

"Agreed. We will bestow five years of our lives to you." Kylie said to the Dark Spectre Queen.

"Just remember," Vanessa stepped up close to them, as their bodies began to glow an odd blue color. "Once you have taken a drop of this potion to transport there, there's nothing I can do you bring you back. Unless you get help over there, you'll be trapped with Haruna and never return."

"But..." Bastion started to speak.

"NO! YOU WILL NEVER, RETURN!" Her voice causing the crystal lighthouse to shake violently.

"We understand..." Kylie said softly.

"Then place your hands over mine." Vanessa ordered.

They did, and the blue glow on their bodies, transferred over onto the sea witch. She seemed to glow brighter and healthier, while the others stumbled with fatigue.

"Now, stick out your tongues, and I will pour one drop onto each one." The Dark Spectre Queen said.

They did so and when she reached Sara, she whispered: "Oh, something to remember, dearie: "What belongs to the sea returns to the sea."

"Er, thank you ma'am." Sara said unsurely.

That same moment, the whole world seems to spin around them as though they were on some crazy carnival ride. When it was all over, the group stood or sat up groaning with dizziness finding themselves staring up at a starry night sky.

"Where are we?"

Dana, who was the first to get up, spotted something and walked to it. Then she said brightly: "Right where we want to be!"

"You mean the Unknown?"

The youngest guardian pointed to a fallen Edelwood tree. "Look, that's the first Edelwood we saw on our first night here! The exact same one when we met the boys and the Woodsman!"

"We made it!" The group hugged each other in excitement.

Now it was off to find Haruna and bring her home.

 ** _To be continued…_**


	8. Prelude to strategy

_Weeks earlier_

In the laboratory of Lady Despair, surrounded by her potions, ointments, ingredients, she stood in front of the large fireplace where a cauldron boiled in its flames. She was grinding something in a mortar with a human bone pestle, and smiled slightly, sensing the presence in the darkness. "What troubles you, my Child?" Lady Despair said as she held up a potion bottle, examining it for cloudiness.

A pair of glowing eyes peered out from the wall near the fireplace, where the flickering shadows melted together.

"I hunger...for love." The Beast of the Unknown whispered from the shadows, even in the castle of Lady Despair, he avoids the light.

"Love..." Lady Despair sneers, putting the potion bottle down. "Is for 'mortals' not for those such as us."

Hands made of wood, twisted and gnarled like the roots, reached out from the shadows in a pleading manner. "Oh Wooden Maiden, Green Bride, she who wanders in the moonlight, I implore you...aid me in my endeavor."

Lady Despair bent her head backwards, letting a hysterical laugh erupt from her pink lips. "Oh, what glorious anguish I feel...very well, I will give you what you ask." She turns, stretching her arms upwards and causing the flames of the fireplace to burn harsher. The beast retreating back in fear. "FOR IT WILL BRING HEART-ACHE UPON YOU! And that pleases me greatly." Lady Despair snickered.

She went over to a small box, and pulled out a small vial filled with a purple liquid and a glowing green ball of light in the center. She held it between her thumb and forefinger. "Anoint yourself with this, my child. And when the dawn breaks you will have a form as handsome as any mortal can be. Maybe more." She holds it out, but pulls it back when the Beast reaches for it. "But be warned, if she continues to defy you, and holds love in her heart for another...then there will be pain and decay. Your form will fall to pieces, and you will be as you are now."

He agreed and took the phial.

"Oh by the way, whom may I ask is this ladylove of yours you wish to win over?" The villainess questioned.

"She is a blossoming flower, a shining glade of glee, I have lost my heart to the Guardian of the Earth, Haruna." The Beast proclaimed happily.

"Bahh!" Lady Despair hissed with a wave of her arm. "Take your foolish affection out of my castle, and be warned. This WILL end in heart-ache, and know that following the sunlight in her smile will only end up with you getting burned!"

 _Presently_

"PLEASE don't tell me something is already developing in that womb of hers." Despair said, rubbing at her eyes with her fingers.

"There's no need to sound crude," The Beast replied, "Furthermore if such as was the case it would've more than obvious by now."

"I WILL BE CRUDE IF I DAMN WELL PLEASE!" Lady Despair screams at the Beast.

Somewhere, a glowing lantern shakes, and a crack appears on the glass pane. The Beast falls to his knee, clutching at his chest in pain, black ooze dribbling from his eyes. "M-my l-l-l-lady..." he coughed.

"And it would NOT be obvious! Cross-species relationships are NEVER so obvious!" Lady Despair said as she stood from her throne, she walks past a shaking Beast as she goes over to some of her 'servants'.

The being, a fairy who had her essence drained holds up a tray with a large bottle of a green liquid, and several glass goblets on it. Lady Despair takes the bottle, and pours herself a glass full of the green, bubbling, smoking liquid.

"I mean, time runs differently in the Beyond. And not to sound rude," Lady Despair takes a sip of her glass, as she strolls over to the Beast. "But there's a good chance you are incapable of siring children, My Beast." Sierra kneels down, and snaps her fingers of her free hand. The beast gasps in relief the moment she does.

"Now, I agreed to this ridiculous scheme because I enjoy the misery and grief the Earth Guardian is giving off as it gives me power." Lady Despair said. "But I assumed you would have already gotten tired of her, and turned her into a tree after finally plowing her field!"

"It's no passing whim..." The Beast said gloomily.

"Then I don't know what to tell you, Child." Lady Despair huffed. "Because if you keep on wanting her, when she doesn't want you. It will end with the Dark losing a major player in the game of balance. And I can't handle another loss that big after The Fiend!"

And if a push come to a shove, perhaps drastic measures needed to be taken.

* * *

That same evening, Haruna was returned to the pasture but this time she knew what must be done. Quickly, she hid the cloak where she knew he'd never find it, and consumed the tea with specific herbs given to her by Auntie Whispers and Lady Marguerite.

It was almost like clockwork, he would always appear to her just an hour after sunset and always in that more comely human shape, his true form he now reserved it for when he goes out lurking for more victims.

And now more than ever, the Earth guardian had to play her part if her other friends out searching to be safe.

"Not just yet. It baffles me to this day, yet... how, when and what made you even notice me?" Haruna questioned. Her heart was beating so hard, it was a wonder he hasn't heard it.

"In all honesty, it was your gift. I once witnessed you coaxing flowers out of the ground," The Beast said reverently, almost lost in the memory. "You bloomed an entire patch of red roses, they were so vivid in color, like spilled blood on the ground."

Haruna shuddered, but the Beast didn't seem to notice.

"I have seen the Nymphs, Ryls, even Mother Demeter grow the vegetation of the world," The Beast admits. "But for some reason, your act of growing was more...innocent, sweet, fresh. You didn't treat it as a chore, or something casual. You grew these flowers with such care, attention and love. Truly, this must've been what the Mighty King Hades felt when he spotted Persephone."

 _I can already see the parallels._ Haruna thought ruefully.

And had to calm down, as he got closer - he might be in that handsome shape, yet even that didn't make him any less daunting than his original frightening tree like form with countless knotholes resembling faces. She was doing it for those out there searching this very night, and for her freedom.

His hands touched her face, gently caressing it and her hair. "My Rose, this evening belongs to us alone, I crave your touch."

 _I just hope my friends can forgive me wherever they are._ Haruna though even as she willed herself to melt into his arms.

* * *

Meanwhile the rescue party had caught a ride in a carriage, except by the time night fell the driver had picked up the pace. And as a result the group was thrown to the sides of the carriage during the bumpy ride.

It wasn't until Sara told the driver their stop was at a very familiar tavern. There they asked the patrons about whether they'd seen Haruna-

"Never mind, then. To get to the point, have you seen a girl?" Bastion had questioned.

"Oh so it's girl you're after eh?" The toy-maker asked brightly.

"I... Yes, I am."

"Here we go again." Theo mumbled as the patrons broke into song and lifted a scandalized Bastion up on stage.

"Sing, lover, sing!"

Bastion looks at the girls, who shrug. A little unnerved he begins with a short soliloquy.

"Isn't it enough that I fight the rivals? That I fight the villains and win the prize?" Bastion continues finding his nerve. "Isn't it enough that I build a strategy, solve complex problems, direct and advise? Why must I also get down on my knees and apologize?"

Thus begins a love song even he never thought he knew. And imagine, aside from his little infatuation with Tania, he'd never considered finding genuine love as he now had with Haruna.

It wasn't until after dating for two long happy years, during a dueling convention and flower show held that same night where they went to both. Right then and there, that was how they knew. He knew she'd be the one, however nonsensical it seemed. They were born to love each other, to belong to one another until the ends of our lives.

Once he finished, Bastion was met with a round of applause from both the patrons and the girls.

"Young lover that was one of the finest love songs these weary ears have heard."

"Hear, hear!"

"Wow, we knew you can be passionate but who'd have thought you had a knack for singing out your feelings?" Yui joked to him.

Bastion blushes a little self-consciously. "Yes, thank you."

Zaira pretends to clap along. "Getting back to present circumstances, and straight to the point: It's HIS girl we're all looking for, now have any of you seen Haruna?"

The patrons looked briefly confused.

"Right, Yui?" Beth turned to the star guardian.

Yui reached into her pockets and pulled out a photo. In it was Haruna holding a potted flowers for a florist convention. "That's her. Maybe you've seen Haruna either growing some plants or wearing her signature power color green..."

For some reason the patrons became nervous.

"So you guys seen her or heard about her or what?" Beth demanded a little impatiently.

"We can't say anything!" The highwayman said frantically. "I might be a ruthless Highwayman, but you know what he'll do!?"

That got a shudder from the others.

The girls and Bastion exchanged glances.

"He?" Bastion questioned, "Do you mean the Beast?"

"What? It's not like he has spies all over the forest, right?" Yui jokes nervously.

"He sees through the trees! And if you speak his name, he knooows!" The Blacksmith whispered.

"It's best not to say anything about him, or his green bride." The innkeeper said.

"SHE IS NOT HIS BRIDE, THERE WAS NO CONSENT!" Bastion yells, causing Kylie and Beth to fall out of their chairs in surprise at his bellows.

"He's got a point." Sara deadpanned.

"She was already Bastion's girl, but that creep kidnapped her!" Yui added.

"Haruna's in trouble and we're gonna find her!" Dana said determinedly.

"If I have to be the hero, the romantic young lover. If it means finding Haruna," Bastion stands up, knocking his chair back. "THEN I WILL DO SO!"

Bastion runs out of the inn to the cheers of the others, and the cries of alarm from the girls.

"Bastion!" Kylie called out.

"Wait for us!" Theo shouts, stuffing rolls into a bag.

"Yeah, you forgot your jacket!" Beth called out.

They spent the night outside within a grove with each one taking shifts. The morning after was rather uneventful save for the girls pointing out the different locations to Bastion and such.

It wasn't until a few hours before sundown that they would run into the one they're looking for.

"You hear that?" Dana suddenly said.

They were in a clearing getting their bearings when they heard singing. At firs they tensed, then calmed upon noticing the voice was female.

A very familiar girl's voice singing Lavender's blue.

 _ **To be continued…**_


	9. Confrontation

"You hear that?" Dana suddenly said.

Everyone paused to listen. It certainly sounded like her, but where's it coming from?

 _"You must love me, dilly-dilly. For I'll love you..."_

"Haruna?" Kylie cried out.

"Haruna?" Bastion jerked at the voice. "HARUNA!"

Without thinking he ran out into the woods.

"Bastion, wait!" Zaira called out. "God, he's such a ditz!"

"Well, we can't let him go alone!" Beth scolds.

They packed up everything, putting on their amulets, so not to be unprotected, and once done they started after him, but by that point Bastion had found her.

"Haruna!"

The young woman had been soaking her tired feet into a creek, and jerked up when she saw Bastion.

"Bastion?" Haruna gasped in disbelief.

"Haruna!" Bastion came through the bushes, falling into the creek with a splash. "Ugh..."

"Bastion!" Haruna cried, sobbing as she helped him to his feet. "It's you! It's really you?"

The two held each other's face, each recognizing the other in a way only true lovers can.

"Oh...Oh, Haruna!" Bastion sobbed with joy.

"Bastion!" Haruna cried too. "It's really you, it's been too long!"

The two hugged each other tightly, rocking side to side, unconcerned with the rest of the world. They embraced for a long time, just long enough that the other guardians came through the bush, gasping at the sight of the hugging couple.

"Haruna!" Sara cried out, her voice cutting into the moment between the lovers.

"Sara!"

At that same moment, the other girls eagerly rush out to greet their missing friend.

"I was so afraid, I nearly thought no one knew where I was." The young woman confessed.

"We _knew_ you had to be alive!" Little Dana hugged her.

"No one believed us." Bastion stated.

"We wanted to use the Book of Secrets, but the naysayers that put us on probation hadn't given it back to us yet." Theo explained.

Yui looked at her dear friend earnestly, "We're just glad we found you, but what happened?"

Haruna's smile faded slightly and she looked at one of her wrists - the one used in the Bonding when she'd been forcibly wed to the Beast.

"What...what's that on your wrist?" Theo asked in a wary tone.

"That...that looks like binding magic." Yui gasped in shock. "I read that in a book...Oh, Haruna."

"It...It seems like some awful dream, and yet...I look down and know it happened," Haruna sobbed. "Oh, I've been forced into a bonding...to the Beast!"

The leaves of the trees rustled, the birds were heard cawing and an ominous crackling was heard through the trees.

Haruna pulled her green cloak tighter around herself. "MY only consolation...is that I made some friends and ran into the ones we've made here," She pulls out the hand mirror, which showed the group but from an overhead angle. "Auntie Whispers gave me this mirror so I could see you all. But also this cloak..." She clung to the cloak like a safety net. "It's the only thing that keeps the Beast from...bad touching me, or more."

"That's terrible." Kylie sympathized.

"Wait a sec, what happened to your amulet?" Zaira suddenly said, she'd just noticed Haruna wasn't wearing hers.

"The first night I wandered here, I touched an edelwood tree but got some oil on myself and it. I went to creek so that I may wash up, had to remove it but when I'd finished the amulet was gone!" Haruna told them, "Afterwards, I thought of a plan with the friends here: we split up and form search parties to look for it. Some by day but those at night and I knew they'd be in trouble if... Oh, I did a horrible thing to keep them safe from the Beast's wrath!"

"Why at night? Why can't you just...keep running?" Theo asked.

"Theo!" Bastion snaps, annoyed by her careless disregard. "Haruna..." He gently takes her hands in his. "It doesn't matter to us. Or to me...what you might have had to do...I believe in you. And I believe in us." Bastion kisses her forehead gently. Haruna shed some more tears.

"The first few nights of them searching I...I didn't take off the cloak, or he'd steal it. But the other evening..." Haruna shook her head. "I...talked to him, sweetly, I held his hand, I kissed him..." She draws a shuddering breath. "It was all I could do not to be sick."

"Whatever you had to do, I know it was for a good reason." Beth consoled her.

"I hope they or we can find it." Sara added, "But even if we do, this whole Bonding thing worries me."

Bastion's disposition sagged a little, but other than that he dared not show his bereavement to his beloved.

"You don't know the half of it..." Haruna mumbled. She looked up at the sky and visibly paled. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Yui asked.

They spent so much time talking, the day was nearly over, and the sun was setting beyond the horizon.

"I...I can't run from him," Haruna said hurriedly. "Even with the cloak, I am always within his grasp, even if he can't touch me. And every day at sunset, no matter where I am, I return to the Pasture!"

She barely spoke the words, when the sunset completely, and as the Night fell, Haruna slowly disappeared before their very eyes.

Yui, Theo, Beth and Bastion had tried to grab her to no avail. They just couldn't believe it. It all seemed hopeless, crazy and unfair.

Bastion actually punched a fallen edelwood tree in grief. "Why must I give up Haruna because of a depraved creature's unrequited longing for her?"

"Who said you had to give up on her?"

The group turned as a pair of bright light shined out from the darkness in the trees like two stars, before the familiar Figure of The Night, stepped out with the lights being her eyes.

"Mother Night." Bastion exclaimed. "Is there no way to save Haruna, to break the hold on her?"

"Oh, Beloved Bastion, so bedraggled by the bad bounty his beautiful beau has been burned with." The Night said with her usual giggle.

"Mother Night, please. We are not in the mood for Alliteration's!" Zaira said desperately. "This is serious stuff. And you said you'd help us, if only to avenge yourself on the Beast!"

The Night's expression become dark, as she pulled her cloak over her body.

"Yes, that's true..." The Night said. "But I cannot provide all the answers, but I do know those who do. And I have been helping you, or have you not noticed you've been unharmed during your journey when I come out?"

The Guardians and Bastion look at each other in realization, every night they'd been perfectly safe, nothing harmed them. The only thing that bothered them, was the stress, fear, and worry for Haruna.

"Once again you must follow that Star," The Night points up to the single, bright shining star. "It will lead you to the ones who can help you."

"And what of Haruna? Is she going to be forced to...to...give into that Beast, each night to help the ones searching for her Amulet?" Bastion asked with disgust.

The Night's expression become terrible with rage.

"No! I will not allow that to happen," The Night said with a seething tone of hate. "My son Hypnos will ensure, that Haruna will no longer have to put up with HIS attentions. But you must hurry, there is only so much you and I can do. If Earth Guardian Haruna is bound to him for too long, there might be NOTHING we can do."

The Night shut her eyes, and seemed to slid backwards into the darkness and disappear.

* * *

About an hour later, the gang follow the star through the woods, Kylie picking a wreath of Holly that's growing about and fall down a steep cliff onto a hut. Landing on the roof, they suddenly fall through that into the hut itself.

"Who are they, Clotho?" A raspy voice asked.

The girls and Bastion looked up in surprise, the hut they were in was full of shelves, stocked with balls of thread; even the Hut itself was made of threads. Three women stood before them. The women all wore a strange, shawl-like garment, almost like a section of fence, that somehow did not touch their skin and yet stayed in place without falling. The woman in white had hers worn at the waist; the woman in red had hers worn at the shoulders, and the woman in black wore hers around her head, so her face was in shadow with only her eyes fully visible.

Her eyes were yellow, entirely so. Just as her sisters were too.

Facially, they were all identical. And they wore their golden hair in similar fashion, gathered at the side in two massive, intricate buns, with some individual touches between their styles. The most notable of which was the stripe of color in their hair: the middle sister had a large purple streak in her two side-buns, while the sister in white had green, and the red sister had blue-dyed hair above her forehead.

The red-clad sister held a golden pair of scissors in one hand. In the other, she held a length of dark wire, which the red sister also held at the middle, and the white sister held at the end with a handle; almost as if it were a kite-string.

The woman holding the spindle went over to a large sparkling ball of yarn, and she pulled loose five threads.

"Sara, Zaira, Theo, Beth, Kylie, Dana, Yui and Bastion." The one called 'Clotho' proclaimed. "They are seeking out the Earth Guardian Haruna, taken from their world by the Beast of the Night."

Theo gazed at them warily. "Okay...how do you know all that?"

Kylie's azure eyes widened in terrified shock. "I know who they are, they're the The Moirai. The Fates! Three sisters who determine our destiny!"

"Don't be afraid," The first sister spoke up. "I'm Clotho, I spin your thread of life, measuring out how long a person lives and grants all things their names at Birth." She spun her spindle, and a long, black thread was spun out into the hands of the second sister, who proceeded to weave it on a loom.

"I'm Lachesis. I allot all soul-mates to each other, dispense good luck and bad luck accordingly, and decide what will happen during your lifetime."

The third sister in black, held up a large pair of golden scissors, clipping them through the air as she holds up the end of the black thread, she puts the black thread through the scissors.

"And I am Atropos." said the last sister. "I cut the thread at Death."

They couldn't tell through her veil, but Atropos seemed to be smiling, as she cut the end of the black thread off. And they all felt a shudder through their souls at the sight of the thread of life being cut.

"I sure hope that wasn't any of our life-thread." Beth said uneasily.

"No, it's not. They're over here in the ball," Clotho said pointing to the ball. "This is the thread of...someone else."

Bastion stood up and approached the sisters. "Oh Fates, I beseech you. Will you not tell me what I can do to aid Haruna, how I can save her from the Beast of the Unknown?"

"Do we look like Fortune Tellers?" Clotho said.

"Ready to dispense information of the future," Lachesis chimed in.

"At some meager pleading, or offer of money?" Atropos finished.

"The Fates help those, who help themselves." They said in stereo.

Bastion and the others looked disheartened.

"Please, can't you tell us ANYTHING that could help us save Haruna?" Bastion pleaded.

"If you wish to free the flower from the gnarled trees branches." spoke Clotho solemnly.

"Then you need the axe to chop off the limbs." Lachesis spoke next.

"And only the Master Woodsman of the World holds that Axe." Atropos spoke last.

"Find the Great Ruler of Burzee, and the way will be shown." The Fates said in stereo again.

"Oh, of course! Lord Ak of Burzee!" Dana exclaimed.

"He's in charge of all the forests in the world, if anyone can make the Beast free Haruna – it's him."

"Except, I hate to be a downer but how do we get back?" Zaira pointed out.

Sara recalled Vanessa's tip. "What belongs to the sea, returns to the sea…" She'd shoved her hands into her pockets and pulled out a small pouch. When she opened it found seven pearls of Poseidon within. "With these, but there's only seven, and Haruna can't return unless she has that amulet of hers."

Bastion had looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he looked at the girls and said determinedly, "Better use those pearls, someone needs to alert the Immortals on our side. I'm going to remain in the Unknown with Haruna until then, if only to give her strength."

Each of the other guardians exchanged solemn glances making a silent agreement of their own. He had a point, and the girls had a better chance of speaking to Ak then Bastion did. Furthermore, Haruna would be needing moral support.

"Done." Beth nodded once, "But soon as we alert him, we're coming right back for you two. Something tells me the Beast isn't going to give her up without a fight."

"That's a fact, we both have known the moment we found who had taken Haruna. Good luck."

Each of the guardians took a pearl dropped it on the ground and promptly stomped on it. A few seconds later, each of the girls was enveloped within a bubble that floated upwards before vanishing.

Bastion would aid Haruna and those in the Unknown to find the amulet containing her powers, now the rest was up to the other guardians.

* * *

Nearly a week had gone by since the group had found Haruna. True to her word, the Night had ensured the Earth guardian was able to sleep soundly at night without fearing for the safety of her friends and her beloved.

The plan continued, the friends in this realm agreeing that once Haruna has the amulet returned to her, she would give them all a sign of their success. Bastion himself aided in the search by day with different allies of theirs – by sheer luck he was able to see Haruna again and offer her comfort.

Still it appeared no one has found it even with a clear description. And yet, the odds would soon turn in their favor.

One early morning, Lorna had gone down to the basement to respects to her past victims' remains. Then something glinted in the candlelight, what was it? Again she held it up – this time something glinted green, and it was coming from a pile of skulls. She hurried and to her bewilderment, saw wildflowers inexplicably growing around one of the skulls. The green glint she'd seen earlier was coming from one of the eye sockets.

That same afternoon, Bastion had joined the Woodsman and several of the townsfolk in the search.

And to their astonishment, a patch of different flowers had begun sprouting in the grassy areas they'd been looking in amidst soft green wisps. Everyone had been caught by surprise, wondering what was causing it. Bastion had been as puzzled as they were but soon he smiled brightly before explaining to his other companions.

For the flowers were red chrysanthemums, Irises, snowdrops and azaleas; the first three represented hope and the latter meant gratitude. What's more seeing them grow the way they did could only mean one thing: Haruna had recovered her amulet and that mean they could return home.

That was the sign.

"Go to her, boy." The Woodsman urged Bastion.

Bastion nods, "Yes. And thank you all for your help."

And he sprinted off, he had to find Haruna.

* * *

This very same day, one well-known Immortal would set foot into the Unknown for the very first time in centuries. He was tall, olive skinned with a grizzled white beard and draped a in a long robe. In his right hand, he carried a silver axe. For this was Ak of Burzee, ruler of the forests, the orchards, and the groves. Alongside Bo and Kern he is one of three beings to whom all other immortals are subject.

He and the other seven guardians were here on a matter of great importance, and it must be dealt with as soon as possible.

"HEAR ME, GREAT BEAST OF THE FOREST, AND APPEAR BEFORE ME!" Ak shouted, extending both arms out.

Immediately, the shadows of the trees seemed to stretch out, and form a pool in front of the forestal Immortal. Out of it rose the Beast with a sullen expression.

"Who dares to call upon me, and has the power to force me into summons?" The Beast demanded.

"It is I 'Ak, Master Woodsman of the World'." Ak proclaimed.

"Why do you order this audience, Master Woodsman?" The Beast asked, in a sarcastic tone on the last two words. "I hold no allegiance to you, only to the Green Bride and Queen of Darkness."

"That is true. But you have chosen to steal away the maiden Haruna from her home, for she dwelt within the lands under MY PROTECTION. Especially, as guardian of the Earth, she has saved many of my nymphs." Ak answered agitated. "Yet you have chosen to interfere where you have no right, or privilege to act."

"Why, what better way to honor such a beloved spell caster then to make her an immortal for her service to the Earth and those born of it?" The Beast replied rather shamelessly. "I believe she is much happier where she is currently."

"There is _no honor_ in what you have done! All you've accomplished is stealing a young girl away against her will and condemning her to a miserable imprisonment." The Great Ak boomed, lightning starts to flash wildly all over.

Lighting up the true shape of the Beast – A ghoulish body made out of edelwood with countless knotholes resembling twisted faces from neck to ankle.

"YOU WILL RELEASE HER, OR IT WILL BE THE END OF YOU, FOREVER!" The Great Ak shouted.

"NO! You cannot! I am the Voice of the Night..." The Beast begins.

"The Night has revoked your title, you are no longer an immortal. And she will soon choose another to take your place." The Great Ak said with a glower.

Although he remained expressionless, The Beast was infuriated. "I cannot and I refuse, she is MY wife. As long as there is the Forest here, as long as there is Surrender, and as long as there shall be Hopelessness; I will never be GONE."

"You will be gone," Ak said in a quiet tone. "You have no idea of the forces you deal with, not the immortals. But the power of love in two individuals paired together by the Fates!"

The Beast refused to release possibly the only being he cared about besides himself, the thought of never seeing her again caused him intense emotional pain. For if he gives into this intimidation– he wouldn't be in a better off position, would he? But then at the implication of the other Immortal's words, a wild stab of jealousy pierced through him like a dagger.

No, she couldn't. He had to see his rose more than anything. He vanished into the shadows even as Ak called out to him.

* * *

When she met up with Bastion, a light came into Haruna's eyes…a glow of joy that none have presence her. He congratulated her tenderly on the success of recovering the amulet, now they could return home… or so they attempted.

" _Don't touch her._ "

The sound came from the shadows between the trees, the voice like a harsh wind scraping through the leaves on a cold night. The two lovers spun around, each one with a different reaction.

Haruna froze like a deer in headlights. Bastion narrowed his eyes, staring down the cause of all their misfortune.

"So we meet at last, Beast of the Unknown." Bastion said coolly.

The Beast was hostile with pain and jealousy. This saucy boy dared speak to him in such a way with the intent to steal away his rose?

"As far as I'm concerned this changes nothing – she is still my wife." He said reaching forwards with the speed of a striking snake and snatching Haruna's wrist.

His hands were digging into her flesh so hard it hurt. "Let me go! Please!"

"Unhand her!" Bastion shouted reaching out to grab the Beasts wrist. "She is not some possession, she is Haruna!"

And at that, The Beast let out a roar of pain, as Bastion's hand glowed brightly. The Beast released Haruna, clutching his wrist in agony. It seemed that Bastion's love was glowing from his heart and enveloping his very body. And the Beast, as a follower of Lady Despair, it could not abide true love, despite his words of so called 'love' for Haruna.

For genuine love means the happiness and well-being of your significant other, even if it means they'd be much happier somewhere or with something else.

Haruna wrapped her arms tightly around Bastion's neck, as Bastion wrapped his arms around her waist the glow grew brighter.

"No! NO! THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! SHE IS BOUND TO ME, SHE IS MINE!" The Beast howled.

Dark shadows seemed to ooze out of his body like oil at the couple, but though his darkness was swirling around them, it failed to even touch the two. And the Beast panted with exertion as he struggled to pour out more of his darkness. But to no avail.

Even so the lovers were determined to escape to safety.

"We were in love – in love long before you even set eyes on me." Haruna protests as she and Bastion briefly separated, "You have no right to threaten him, let alone claim we cannot see each other again."

"Best not to waste words on him. I'll vanquish that monster if I have to do it branch by branch!" Bastion declared angrily.

"You're arrogant to think you can destroy me." The Beast replied icily, he may have failed to use the surrounding darkness in his favor but he still had other tricks in store. "Oil will flow, replacing the blood in your veins, and when I'm done, your flesh will be replaced with bark."

Idle words exchanged, the two males began to fight for their love. The duel was tough and merciless. The Beast might be an immortal creature of the forest, but Bastion was a cunning and analytical opponent, so none of them was yielding.

A greatly worried Haruna attempted to intervene using her recently recovered powers, however kept back out of harm's way by one or the other despite her best efforts.

He might not have his deck at hand, yet Bastion didn't lose his head for a minute – in just one quick calculation, he'd picked up a small flint rock and a branch, intending to make torch out of it. Only for his ankle to be ensnared within an edelwood root that tightened like a python's grip, starting from there towards the rest of his body.

 ** _To be concluded…_**


	10. Finale

Before the youth could become fully encompassed within roots and vines, a sudden noise causes the Beast to lose focus; aggravated he turns to his attention towards its direction. A sort of strong fluttering, like the beating of large wings. Several more.

To Bastion and Haruna's great surprise and joy, the girls had returned as they'd said. And this time in their guardian shapes: fuchsia and turquoise uniforms complete with iridescent fairy-like wings.

"Step away from the couple!" Beth ordered.

"Back off, pal!" Theo threatened, her hands enveloped in bright angry orange flames.

Fire. It was an unwelcome element in not only the woods of the Unknown, but to the Beast as well. He swiftly sidestepped a fireball from the guardian, intending to let his rival burn.

Fortunately, Haruna helped Bastion out of the edelwood before the fireball hit. And they visibly winced, having caught a glimpse of the Beast's true form in the fiery light.

"You can't keep her in the Unknown if she doesn't want to!" Yui piped up. "Especially now that she's got her powers back."

"Furthermore, even with all the formal stuff that binding ceremony she didn't consent at all." added Sara even as she used the waters of a nearby creek as a shield, "Which means that your union with her is invalid."

"Then I shall MAKE IT so!" The Beast hissed in a demonic voice.

But the Master of Burzee stepped forward and stopped him. The guardians stayed where they were prepared to move in case things get ugly. From their viewpoint they could other denizens of this purgatory had heard the commotion and now watched, curious to know where this would lead.

Ak then stated, "Regardless, it's not up to you. Only the maiden herself has the right to choose who she wishes to be with. And hear my words well both of you: whoever she decides, you are bound to follow through upon it without any reprisals. And that includes your allies too!"

They could swear they saw him glare at something out of the corner of his eye. And yet there appeared to be nothing there – only Beth, the leader of the Guardians, knew to whom that accusing glance was directed at. And it wasn't just Lady Despair.

Haruna froze, feeling uneasy with all the eyes on her.

At one part, she has good friends in the Unknown and the flora here is bountiful. Yet while The Beast had acquired a more comely appearance sole y for her - beauty is merely an illusion. Withal his survival required the sacrifice of many that despair in the woods become trees that would then be cut down for oil. The guilt doing nothing to stop him would surely weigh heavily on her conscience for all time lest she unwillingly loses her memory via grief or some underhanded spell, and forgetting everyone she loved was one of the last things she wanted to do.

Then there was Bastion. True, he had his faults as did everyone. He loved her, though, and had proved his love many times. They both might be young and appear inexperienced to most of the world, but they've always managed to work it all quite well. Life with him won't be simple with or without her powers, for life never truly is. However she would have a happy union together with him and ready to face the future.

"You know I don't, if I did, they'd have left us alone. But it's Bastion who holds my heart. I love him! I love him so much that if I lose him I'll die! You know I can't remain here for all time, I need my family and friends. You're only keeping me here as you would a wild songbird in a gilded cage." Haruna strongly proclaimed. "There is nothing for me with you, and I could never love you in a million years. If there truly is some form of love you genuinely feel for me, I can only hope that in our happiness at being together again, Bastion and I can find it in our hearts to forgive you."

Like that, his impassioned heart shattered. The Beast's body shudders with horror, rage and disappointment. He's not going to take lightly to this deception to this betrayal he's ready to corrupt/consume to destroy all that stand in his way.

He then promptly lunged at Bastion with a horrific shriek of evil. Haruna was shoved away by Bastion, the various witnesses screamed in fear and alarm.

 ** _~THUNK~!_**

And everything became deathly quiet.

Everyone seemed unsure what had happened. The Beast glanced down, at the silver axe buried inside of his chest. It was gripped tightly in the hands of the Great Ak, his expression thunderous.

 _"The Law of the Great Ak is absolute in his domain and to deny, or defy it is to incur destruction, or worse."_ The Beast recalled The Night telling him this once, many ages ago.

"She has made her choice." The Great Ak's eyes narrowed angrily. "And so have you..."

The Beast touched his wounded chest and with a final desolate glance towards Haruna, his body shimmered, wavering as the mist would fade in the dawns early light. And the Beast was soon gone from sight. No more.

"He is gone. And will trouble no one no more." The Great Ak spoke.

"I definitely heard something crack, and if it wasn't the dark lantern, it was inside him." Dana remarked.

"Eh, he was a two-faced jerk anyway." Theo said darkly.

Ak approaches the couple, "Young lovers, the two of you have my blessings as well as the Night's. May Aslan always smile upon you both."

"Thank you," Haruna smiled.

The other beings from the Unknown wished the couple and their friends well with the group thanking them for their help.

Bastion and Haruna held each other close, "Everyone from here in the Unknown to Burzee want us to be happy, and that's just what we're going to be - always!"

The other guardians smiled, happy their friend was reunited with her beloved once more now all they had to do was return home…

"Oh-oh! We all better get home, the no maj authorities are rounding up the wrong suspects." Beth suddenly remembered. "These ones might be jerks but they shouldn't go to jail for something they didn't do."

"That's right!" Haruna and Bastion shared their concern, "Our families must be wondering what happened to us by then."

And so the group returned home, the young woman was happily reunited with her parents and other friends and cleared up the situation before someone innocent could be accused for Haruna's disappearance.

The following day there was quite a homecoming celebration on the part of their dear friends and neighbors – and the cheers for when Bastion and Haruna declared their love was deafening.

Of course, it had gotten stronger under the strangest of circumstances, but who can actually say where or when true love will come along or develop as it had with these young lovers. Thus it was true love that had vanquished this dark force and emerged triumphant!

The End.


End file.
